Top 3 Nutrition New Year’s Resolutions for 2019

The best dietitian recommended healthy eating advice to look and feel your best

There is much debate over if setting a nutrition New Year’s resolution is even helpful. As a Calgary Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian for almost two decades, I know first-hand just how impactful setting the right nutrition New year’s resolution can be to achieve the biggest shifts in your health, energy, and weight.

The Reason
Many Nutrition New Year’s Resolutions Fail

Unfortunately
many people set a well-intended nutrition New Year’s Resolutions that is either
destined for failure since it was too extreme to sustain. Others choose too many goals to try and focus
on and lack enough clarity to specifically be able to measure success.

I’ve also noticed a really common issue is that the nutrition resolution may be healthy but have little impact on the results they are trying to achieve. In this case it can feel like you are working hard and not getting paid.

The Best
Dietitian Approved Healthy Eating Strategies

There are
hundreds of suggestions, healthy foods and eating changes I could have
suggested for your New Year’s Resolution.
I contemplated the most important nutrition changes that could have the
most profound influence on your overall health, energy levels and help you move
towards your personal best weight.

Below you
will find the top 3 nutrition New Year’s Resolutions I think are some of the
most important nutrition changes to explore. Which one could you work on this
year?

1. Feel More, Track Less

Your smart
phone is not a nutrition expert on you.

You are not a robot and your hunger and fullness will change daily
like the weather. If you are full it is OK to leave food on your plate. If you
are still hungry give yourself permission to have a little more. Remember it
can take time for your brain and your body to connect and determine fullness.
Slow down and listen to what your body is saying. When you do, your body
doesn’t let you down. No judgement. Honor your hunger.

You don’t
need to track calories on an app.

Many programs and apps irresponsibly provide a reward that
you are allowed to eat more on days that you exercise and a punishment of less
food if you have not exercised. This fundamentally goes against normal intuitive
eating patterns. In fact, you may find your appetite is lowest on active days
and your body will cure you to eat more to recover on days off. You are worthy
of eating regardless of your physical activity patterns. Learning to identify
the different kinds of hunger, trust your body and respond appropriately to
your needs is key for success.

2. Time Block Meal Prep

You may
not want to spend time in the kitchen but good health depends on it

If you really don’t enjoy cooking you may be hoping there is a way
to totally eliminate all meal prep to instead go with convenience
solutions. While there are certainly time saving tips we
teach our clients every day in our Calgary dietitian practice, eating well does
take time and effort. It must be prioritized in your schedule.

Use the 5
minute time block solution

Constantly feeling stressed by meal planning? Grabbing too many
convenience foods? Tossing out fruits
and veggies from your refrigerator that just didn’t get prepared? You need a better system. You don’t need to be a professional planner
or devote your entire Sunday to meal prep for the week, but you do need to be
intentional about time blocking meal prep.
Start by spending 5 minutes once per week to time block your calendar
for grocery shopping and meal prep. Most people need at least 1/2 hour each day at supper or longer periods on the
weekend blocked off to prepare and cook food.
Many people you may underestimate how long it takes to acquire, prepare
and cook. If it’s not on the calendar
you will likely find it hard to fit in.

3. Make Veggies Awesome & Abundant

The
vast majority of people could benefit from increasing the number of vegetables
they eat each day. While most people know this, knowledge often does not lead
to action. Some of the barriers is
simply not understanding how to cook vegetables in a way that tastes good and
adding enough variety throughout the day to hit your targets.

Let the vegetables drive dinner

When
you are meal planning start with the veggies first for a little more love and
attention. Build your repertoire of
tasty recipes and cooking methods so you will actually want to eat
veggies. Start with these two simple
tips:

Use my “2 by 2” rule for veggies

To
make the goal to eat more vegetables more actionable, use my “2 by 2 rule”
which simply states “eat two different vegetables, twice per day.”

Give
yourself more than one opportunity each day to eat vegetables. You likely won’t
eat enough if you only have them at supper. Add raw veggies and dip, salad or
vegetable soup as a daily snack or as part of lunch. At supper, instead of only
having a cooked vegetable or a salad, focus on having both. As an adult, aim to
have half of your supper plate full of vegetables. In order to do this, go for
steamed, grilled, roasted vegetables as well as a few raw veggies or a salad.

The New Year is a great time to take action on a healthy eating goal. Which one of the above 3 goals sounded like the best fit for you?

Book an appointment for nutrition counseling by our top Calgary nutritionists and our virtual online Registered Dietitians. For more information visitCalgary Nutrition Counseling

About Andrea Holwegner

Andrea the "Chocoholic Nutritionist" is founder and president of Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc. since 2000. She is a professional speaker, media expert for the Dietitians of Canada and consultant to the food and restaurant industry for companies...Read more

Success Stories

There wasn’t anything that I couldn’t eat while on the program as long as I understood what I was eating and the impact it would have on my progress. Success was up to me. A simple, initial target to lose 5 -10 pounds turned into an updated goal of losing 30 pounds. When that was achieved over six months, without ever feeling hungry, I decided to go for 40 pounds, which is where I was many, many years ago. Having achieved that milestone, Andrea and I are now working on a strategy to stabilize my weight loss and to ensure that the eating habit improvements achieved are embedded into my normal routine.